Pittsburgh Steelers

The genesis of the Steelers organization happened on July 8, 1933 when one Arthur Joseph Rooney paid $2500 to secure rights to an NFL franchise. Originally the club was known as the Pirates, mimicking the name of the city's baseball team. It was tough sledding at first, as the team won only 22 games in its first 7 years of existence. In 1938, Rooney signed Byron White, later a Supreme Court justice to what was the first big money contract of the day, a whopping $15,800!

In 1940, Rooney changed the name of the franchise to Steelers either as an homage to the steel industry, or perhaps as a pun on the pirates (stealers, get it?). In 1942, they had their first winning season as they went 7-4. The next season with World War II well underway, the Steelers temporarily merged with the cross-state Philadelphia Eagles to become the Phil-Pitt Steagles. In 1947, the team won its first ever postseason berth, but lost 21-0 to the aforementioned Eagles.

The 1950's and 1960's were fairly mediocre decades for the team in general as they went through several coaches and personnel changes. In 1969, the Steelers reached their nadir, winning a mere one game but this was to prove to be a huge turning point in their history. Because of their poor finish, the Steelers got the number one pick in the draft, which they used on quarterbackTerry Bradshaw. Other shrewd draft picks followed including Mel Blount in 1970, Jack Ham in 1971 and the "immaculate receiver" Franco Harris in 1972.

The Steelers left the NFC and moved to the AFC where they became a powerhouse, winning four Super Bowls over the next decade. While they have been unable to duplicate this feat in recent years, they remain one of the more popular NFL franchises.

One of the interesting things about the Steelers uniforms is their helmets. The Steelers' logo, which is called Steelmark, contains three hypocycloids or diamonds and only appears on the right side of the helmet. In 1962, they inaugurated the design and decided to leave it on just one side as they were uncertain if it would remain permanently. After a successful season, the team decided to leave the design that way and it's still only on one side 40 years later.
Steelers team MVP's have been: